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Bourbon Balls

December 10, 2017 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Bourbon BallsThis is it! The holiday cookie for people who don’t cook. All you need is a food processor and a forefinger to press the pulse button and gooey goodness will be your reward.

This recipe comes directly to you from the Thibodaux family whose unofficial food rep (Bonnie Thibodaux Knowles) swears that her momma clipped it out of the Times Picayune back in the sixties. No matter. They still get the cred since I ate it there first. After bringing the leftovers to my aunt in Baton Rouge I was asked where I had ‘bought’ them. “Seriously?” I said. “Does anyone buy bourbon balls?” I said…. Somebody must, but I’ve never seen them and it’s probably because they’re so easy.

You need only crush the various ingredients and you’re ‘ready to roll.’ Once rolled you should lay them out on a cookie sheet to firm up. And note: many b.b. recipes use powdered sugar. I tried it that way (solely in the interests of research) and this is better. The uncooked crystallized sugar yields a satisfying crunch to the final product. And in the further interests of research I made this with Nilla Vanilla Wafers, Trader Joe’s Vanilla Wafers, and Keebler V.Ws. And guess what? Surprise, surprise Nilla gets the nod. They’re just superior in consistency and flavor so go with the classic.

Bourbon Balls I use a food processor but if you don’t have one you can crush up the crumbs between two pieces of wax paper or in a paper grocery bag. The prep involves a lot of bowls if you go the decorating route like I did. I thought that in addition to the usual powdered sugar I’d add some culinary bling in the form of gold lustre powder and edible glitter.

Bourbon BallsIt’s a fun mess to make and even funner to eat.

Bourbon BallsAnd in the interests of variety I even developed a vanilla version with less bourbon which I ended up preferring (sorry Bonnie & other Thibodauxs).

But whichever version you pick be sure and pack them in a tin and make enough to enjoy during the entire season. They will keep for quite a while if you can keep from eating them all at once.

Bourbon Balls

Bourbon Balls
 
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Author: Carine Clary
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients
  • For the chocolate balls:
  • 2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
  • 1 cup ground roasted pecans
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dark powdered coco
  • ½ cup bourbon (scant)
  • 3 tablespoons corn syrup or honey
  • For the vanilla balls:
  • 2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
  • 1 cup ground roasted pecans
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ⅓ cup bourbon
  • 1 tsp. instant espresso (or coffee)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons corn syrup or honey
Instructions
  1. Pulse cookies in food processor till fine, remove, then do the same with nuts.
  2. Stir together crumbs, nuts, sugar, and coco. (n.b. Roasted walnuts are also fine.)
  3. Stir together bourbon, coffee (for the vanilla balls) and honey till combined.
  4. Using a spoon or melon baller roll into one inch balls in your hands.
  5. Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar.
3.4.3177

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Cookies, Desserts, Southern Tagged With: Bourbon balls, bourbon chocolate balls, Cookies, vanilla bourbon balls

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About Me

Hello, I'm Carine Clary and I'm the FrangloSaxon.

And is that a word? In a word - Yes! It reflects my French connections in the south part of the state and the Anglo Saxon ones on the Arkansas state line. I grew up eating & loving all the foods of Louisiana and the idea is to collect lots of them right here on this website.

What you'll find here is food that reflects everybody's cooking. Creole we know. Cajun we know. But how about Croatian or Vietnamese....or Italian or German....or the underestimated plain Southern food they do so well in the upstate parishes?

They're all part of who we are so pull up your chair and join me for some good eats!

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